HTTYD One-Shots

Saving Snoggletog

Merry Christmas!!
Enjoy this collaboration between 4days4subjects and I as a gift to readers🥰

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Berk, the beautiful island home to both man and beasts in the archipelago, particularly astounding during this time of the year: winter. Down in the town square however, icicles hanging from roofs of huts displayed a minimized nightmare to the inhabitant Vikings. It was merely six months after the Drago Bludvist incident when the Bewilderbeast left a slow-melting trauma, which was clearly most potent within the new chief of Berk.

It wasn't easy forgetting about the day before Drago arrived on Berk either. Every time Hiccup Haddock reflected on that day, it felt as if the innocent icicles on the huts pierced through his heart. The tribe had come together to construct the magnificent statue in memory of their late chief, occasionally placing offerings. For Hiccup, with Snoggletog around the corner, he couldn't help but ache at the thought of celebrating it in his father's absence for the first time in his life. Sure, he had his mother now, but it just wasn't the same without dad.

Whenever the young man finished his duties, no matter how late at night, he'd spend some silence at his father's memorial on his own, including the absence of Toothless. Hiccup needed the peace and quiet from the townsfolk and dragons, just him and his dad in spirit.

One particular evening, Hiccup finally showed up to Stoick's shrine at nearly midnight. That evening his team had finally completed the Snoggletog tree at the town square. After a satisfying meal and sending Toothless home, he trudged towards the spot, kneeling down as he approached. He stared up into the stone eyes of the majestic towering statue gazing down on him. The chief closed his eyes and lowered his head before he began speaking in a low voice as if in conversation with his father.

Since Astrid was a teenager, almost every evening she would make her way to the forest to throw axes; just regular training she required. Now as the general of Berk, she spent most of her time by Hiccup's side throughout the day for their jobs, and after dinner the young man would walk his dearest girlfriend back home before returning to his.

Even though it was pretty late that day, Astrid departed her home with her weapons like usual. As she made her way through the forest, she noticed the frame of a young man she was thoroughly familiar with. A closer look confirmed her assumptions: her betrothed, Chief Hiccup, kneeling at the statue of the man she would never get to call her father-in-law.

In a swift motion, she dropped her spare axe in her arms and jogged over to Hiccup, startling the man with the presence of another. However, when he noticed the girl who was now seated by his side, he let all his emotions loose.

The tears he shed found their way down his cheek and falling from his chin to the ground. Astrid wiped his face dry as far as she could. For a moment she succeeded, but it started again soon after that, only this time the tears found their way quicker to the ground.

''Babe, everyone is worried about you. I know it's too soon to talk about letting this go, but...'', Astrid started.

''There's no 'but' Astrid!" His voice echoed through the night in a furious tone, which made her tremble. She never heard him like that. Sure his voice raised from time to time towards cranky villagers, but never in the way he did at that moment. ''I can't leave him, Astrid. Not like this. I- I don't know if... if I can take his place. Like I told you, it was his job to lead Berk. Not me. Besides... it's my first Snoggletog without him.''

Between sobs, his eyes met the sad blue ones of Astrid's. ''Please. I don't know what I can do anymore. Help me," he pleaded through his tears. Besides the pain Astrid felt watching Hiccup in pain and desperation, the general was also in shock. Now Snoggletog was closing in, everybody expected him to take his role in the organization. However, she also knew that his time of mourning wasn't over. If the people of Berk still mourned, the only son of the fallen would have it the worst.